Odd Magic
by SheMarauder
Summary: An outcast in her own world and an outcast in another. Kendra was different from all of her people. Not just by looks, but her magic as well. The same magic that helps her travel from her world to this strange new one. This world is filled with technology foreign to Kendra, and she soon meets an odd man flying around in a metal suit. (May turn into Tony Stark/Oc.)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I was advised against making a new story, since I already have so many in-progress, but I couldn't help it. I Have so many ideas I need to write down! This one is actually a more recent idea. Please enjoy. P.S. I obviously don't own Iron Man. P.S.S This main character is similar to the one in my story The Ghost. Magic-** **wise anyway.**

* * *

My life was never really simple. I was always different from everybody else. Instead of pointed ears they were round. My nose wasn't pointed either; more button like. My lips weren't thin and purple, but more plump and a pinkish rose. My hair was a dark red, almost brown color, but everyone else's was snow white. Instead of red eyes mine were a teal color. Even my height was different from everybody else's. I was shorter by four inches, making me five foot six.

Growing up the differences bothered me, and why wouldn't they? Nobody else looked like me, not by a long shot. It was their reason for making fun of me. Most of it was just name calling, but as I grew older and got further in my studies I was able to brush them off with ease.

Another thing I noticed as I grew older was that guys held no interest in me. Once there was a guy who was dared by his friends to go out with me. I found out about it and got so angry all of his clothes disappeared.

This was just another thing that set me apart from everybody else. My magic wasn't based off of one of the elements like everybody else's. My people were blessed by the Gods and Goddesses themselves. The god of fire, lightning, earth, and dark gifted us with the ability to control anything related to those elements. The goddesses of water, air, earth, and light allowed us to control everything related to those elements.

I, on the other hand, proved my differences once again by having a magic I called Life Magic. It wasn't based off of any of the elements. Sure I could control the elements, but it was only because I could manipulate the particles in the air. I could feel them constantly buzzing. I could change them into whatever I wanted. I could change the particles in an object to make it something else.

Since nobody else had this magic I was left to explore it on my own. Even then my parents had me practice it when I was alone, and where nobody could find me. They were no different from everyone else. Mother was constantly giving me looks mixed with disappointment and disgust, but father at least tried. I remember asking him why mother didn't like me when I was younger. He always reassured me that she did, and as a child I believed him, but I know better now.

Father was the one I went to whenever I had a problem. I had no friends I could turn to because nobody would dare approach me for conversation. On some occasions I heard rumors about me having some sort of disease. That was what prevented me from ever trying to approach others.

My own tutor could barely stand my presence. He was an instructor for lightning magic. It was the type of magic my parents had me pretend to be blessed with.

I often ended up leaving my home to practice my magic in the large forest that made up the backyard. Nobody else went in their because it was our property. It was a wonderful place to get away and just relax. To hide from the looks and whispers that followed me everywhere.

More then once I went into this forest with plans to end my life. With me gone my parents would not have to stay hidden in our home. I would no longer have to listen to everybody mock me and my looks. Yet every time I readied myself for the killing blow I found myself hesitating. If I killed myself then all of those who talked bad about me and insulted me would win. Would know that everything they said had gotten to me. So I continued on, forcing myself to accept that every day of my life would be a struggle I would have to fight through.

Now I no longer enter that forest with thoughts of sadness and depression. I go in there with my magic ready at my disposal. It was easy to work my magic when I felt angry. Fire and lightning were the most destructive of elements, along with dark magic. They were what I would use to burn down the trees in the surrounding area. I've done it so often there was now a blackened clearing that I sat in every day to calm myself down.

It was where I was sitting right now. My recent date had just informed me that he was only into me because I was so exotic. That hadn't been the first time I'd heard something like that, and those men only seemed to be interested in their carnal desires.

To get away from it all I left him behind and made my way here. The smoke from a tree I hit with lightning wafted through the air and into my nose. The smell barely registered with me as I examined the particles in front of me.

These small little charges always had a hard time moving around. There were so many it was a wonder nobody else could feel them. They constantly bumped and rubbed up against one another. It's what made it so easy to control fire and lightning.

For the first time I wondered what would happen if they had more space to move. Would it change anything? Would some sort of element appear in the space? It's possible there would be some sort of vacuum there. An area with absolutely nothing inside. Like a neutral plane.

Closing my eyes for better focus I made an image of what I saw in front of me come to the forefront of my mind. Instead of just burnt trees I added the thousands of dancing particles.

Sticking out my hand I slowly took hold on the energy I could feel running through the charges and pulled them apart. In my minds eye I could see them ever so slowly pushing away from each other. I had to bring up my other hand to help speed up the process.

After several minutes I has a small hole forming in the air in front of me. There was a sense of success building up inside of me, but it was also joined by fear. The particles pulling apart was what I expected, but what I hadn't seen coming was the swirling red light that pulsed inside of the hole I was forming.

The only thing preventing me from hiking back to the house was my curiosity. I was always curious about things I had no knowledge about, and more often than not it got me into trouble.

This curiosity is what had me stilling my hands. They were still positioned to keep the charges pulled apart because I didn't want the red light to disappear. It was rather beautiful and reminded me of the stars above, only a red instead of black sky.

With slow and careful movements I opened my eyes to see that pulsating light was sitting right in front of me. The air in my lungs constricted, and I murmured to myself, "It's real." I didn't want to take my eyes off of it because I was afraid it would be gone once I looked back.

"What are you?" Of course I didn't get a response. Had I gotten one I would have become frightened and quite possibly fled.

Instead of doing the right thing and putting the charges back into place I reached forward with one of my hands to touch the light.

I don't know what I expected to happen when I touched it, but I certainly didn't think my fingers would disappear. It made me snatch my hand back with a sharp inhale.

"You should run away while you have the chance, Kendra," I mumbled under my breath. "Pretend none of this ever happened." But how could I? Such a phenomenon was unforgettable.

With a steadying breath I reached back out to touch the light. This time I was prepared for my hand to go right through it, and I pushed it farther in.

Pretty soon I was elbow deep. My other hand was still held out in front of me because I was worried if I stopped my magic then the light would disappear–taking my arm with it. To prevent that I situated my body to go in sideways. That allowed me to place my foot through the light and continue through with my head and torso.

When bringing my head through I closed my eyes against the onslaught of light. It was very bright, but thankfully only lasted a few moments. When the moments passed I could open my eyes to see that the other side of the light wasn't just a blank space. It was a world. There was a night sky filled with stars, grass beneath my feet, and off in the distance were some sort of towers that threatened to scrape the sky.

My breathing was shaky as my mind made a decision without me really realizing it.

With a quick step I had my other leg coming through what now must have been some sort of portal. That left only my arm behind. Should it close I could end up losing my arm, but if I was quick enough…

Taking one more deep breath I let it out very slowly while counting to five. Once the number passed I yanked my hand through the portal and, just as I expected it would, the portal shrunk down on itself in the blink of an eye without me using magic to hold it open.

Another odd thing happened once the portal closed. It had shrunk down, but instead of fully disappearing it left behind a small stone. It glowed a soft red that, had I not experienced what I just did, would have seemed innocent.

Even though I knew something was off about this stone I reached out and picked it up with the tips of my fingers. At first I just held it over the grass to see if it would do anything. It did glow a little brighter once I touched it, but it didn't hurt me in any way.

Holding it closer to my chest I inspected the red stone with a confused eye. Whatever it was must have brought me here, but how? I had been separating particles, so it could have been something I created; though I doubted it. That meant it would have been in the same place as I was at the perfect time. Maybe it was some sort of coincidence. Either way I placed the stone into my pocket and sealed it closed to prevent it from falling out. Something about the air around it screamed other worldly.

There wasn't much of a choice for me except to go towards the tall buildings. Walking would take too long, so I manipulated the air around me to shoot me into the sky. Flying was something many Air Magics enjoyed doing–as did I. It allowed you to get a better view of everything, and in a new place such as this it would be something I could use to my advantage to learn what all of these strange things were.


	2. Chapter 2

The strange world was absolutely exhilarating. There were buildings made from glass and metal that were taller than any I'd ever seen before. Strange black paths wound around these buildings with horseless carriages that were made from even more metal! My magic could feel the particles inside of the strange machines working in separate waves to get the carriages moving.

But the best part of it all were the people. They looked exactly like me! They're tanned skin, colorful hair, different eyes. They didn't have purple lips, but pink ones like mine! The one big difference between us were our clothes. Men wore pants that weren't cotton, and some had what looked like special leather coats over strange short sleeves shirts. Not a single one of them wore a tunic. BAre.h any of the women wore dresses. They had shirts and pants like the men.

Now knowing I could finally go around without having to wear a dress and get teased about it made me excited enough to change my clothes right then and there. A simple change in the particles has the bottom of my dress splitting into the tight fitting blue fabric, and the corset became a white short sleeved shirt. Some of the women were wearing strange shoes that showed their entire foot. It made odd flip-flopping sounds as they walked. They intrigued me into changing my black flats into a black pair of those flip-flops. Those shoes were much more comfortable than the flats.

Glancing away from my new clothes showed that I had gained odd looks from people passing by. I worried about what I had done wrong to already make people judge me in this new world, but nobody said a thing. They completely ignored me as they went about their business. It was fantastic!

My mission to explore the city gave me a lot of information. The streets of this metal made city were packed with the horseless carriages, and the paths for the people were equally as filled. When the black paths for the metal carriages crossed perpendicular to each other there were lights that told them whether or not they could go. If it was red they would stay still, green meant they could go, and yellow must have meant speed up before it changes to red.

Those lights were attached to long poles that stuck out above those streets. Another light was attached to the part of the pole not over the street but near the pathways. This one had two lights. One was a red hand, and the other a little blue person. I learned that you should only go when the blue person comes up because when I tried walking on the red hand a carriage almost collided with me. They didn't even try stopping. From the lack of reactions of the people around me I assumed this was a common occurrence, though a dangerous one.

Another more alarming piece of new information showed that wherever I was the language was different. I couldn't understand any of the conversations being spoken around me, and there were green signs on the light poles that had words in the strange language these people spoke. None of the symbols used were familiar to me.

Finally becoming overwhelmed by my situation I manipulated the particles around me to let me fly up into the air. I thought I heard a few gasps from some of the people, but I paid them no attention.

I flew as high as the tallest building in this odd world and sat on the edge of its roof. The seat gave me a perfect view of a large body of water stretching as far as the eye could see. I'd never seen an ocean before because my parents never allowed me to go to one. Now I could finally see what I was missing out on.

Dropping my gaze to my feet I realized one of those flip-flop shoes had fallen off. Grasping onto the particles closest to my foot I changed them into another type of shoe. Now I had the same flip-flop style, but there were straps wrapped around my ankle to keep the shoes secure.

I sighed as I watched this worlds sun set over the mass of water. "What is this place?" Silence was my answer.

I stayed up on that roof for hours, thinking about the new things I was learning in this world. The people here were able to bend metal into whatever shape they wanted. They could manipulate particles like I could to get those metal carriages moving by themselves. It completely blew my mind, and I wanted to be able to make one of those carriages for myself. I wondered what wizard made them here. Was there a magic user here that had the same life magic as me?

Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth had now become a bad habit of mine. It showed when I was nervous or unsure about something. Right now I was doing it because not one person down on those strange pathways were affected by the particles in the air.

None of the particles were attracted to them like they would be to a lightning user. None of them rubbed against each other when a fire user was present. Nobody was playing with their water or air abilities in the streets. Dark magic users weren't cutting out the lights while light magic users ran around to fix what the dark users did.

None of the people here had a magic element to them, and that's what worried me most. Even here in this new world I was an outcast. Different from everybody else because of something I was born with. If these people found out would they scorn me too? The people down below had seen me fly off, would they do anything?

With a sad sigh I manipulated the particles against my skin to make me invisible. It allowed me to return to the ground without anybody seeing my descent. Having them see me use my abilities once was enough. No point in letting them see even more.

I wondered to myself: how would someone without abilities even react? Would they be bad reactions or good? Then I thought: how can they live without an ability? To be unable to manipulate the particles in the air had me shivering. What a boring existence that would be.

The sun continued to set, and the lower it got the less people were walking out on the streets. There were still plenty of carriages though.

Along with the darkness came a slight breeze that had bumps appearing all over my arms. I ducked into the nearest building that turned out to be a tavern. It was a rather quiet place, something I hadn't expected in a city this busy. There was classical music drifting out of large black boxes in two corners of the room. I blinked amazedly, how was that possible? Where was the band?

"Can I help you?"

At first I hadn't realized anyone was talking to me, but when I did I could only stare at her uncomprehendingly, " _Sorry_?"

Now she was staring at me oddly, "What did you say?"

" _I'm sorry, I can't understand you_."

"Right," the woman was giving me an odd look. "Do you speak any English?"

My brows furrowed, " _What_?"

I could tell the woman was getting frustrated, "English? Do you speak the English language?"

'Inglish?' I wondered to myself, 'What is inglish?'. " _I don't understand what you're trying to tell me._ "

The woman sighed in frustration, "Stay here." She suddenly thought better of her statement and just pointed from me, to the place I was standing, before walking away.

Knowing that she wanted me to stay where I was I just stood there awkwardly. A few people looked over at me confusedly, but they went about their business. Being stared at was nothing new for me, so I forced myself not to be so affected by it.

I saw the same woman from before coming towards me with another woman in tow. This new woman was shorter than I was, only reaching my shoulder, and she was much older than the first woman. Her skin was covered in wrinkles. Like an old prune.

"This is her. I can't understand a word she's saying, and the language itself is nothing I've ever heard before."

I gave the younger woman a confused look as she gestured at me and then her mouth. My brows furrowed, " _What_?"

Apparently that what she wanted because she stopped her gesturing and looked at the old woman, "Do you know what language that could be?"

I don't know what she said, but whatever it was had the old woman shaking her head negatively. "I'm afraid it's nothing I've ever heard before."

The young woman threw up her hands in defeat, "Well if you don't know then nobody will."

Whatever she said had the old woman smacking her with the dish towel draped over her shoulder, "Get back to work. I'll deal with this."

I was left alone with the strange old woman. She said something else in a questioning tone, but all I could do was shake my head. There was nothing I could manipulate the particles into that would allow me to understand another language.

The lady gestured for me to follow after her, and with only a moments hesitation I complied. If this turned out to be some sort of trap then I could just use my magic to get away.

In the end I found out it wasn't a trap at all. The old woman brought me up a flight of stairs to what looked like a cozy little apartment. The kitchen and living area were all one room while a door to the far right led into a bathroom and another door next to it led into a bedroom. There was a door opposite from those that was shut so I didn't know what that room would be.

"Come over here."

Hearing the woman's voice I looked over to see her waving me towards the sofa. With careful steps I joined her in the small living area where the woman proceeded to place a hand against her chest, "Sandra."

She repeated the unfamiliar word several times before I realized it was her name. "San…" the word was hard to pronounce but the woman's encouraging smile made me keep trying, "Sand–E. Sander. Sandra!"

"Sandra" smiled at the sound of her name and I pressed a hand to my own chest, "Kendra."

A few attempts later ("Candy? Kenda? Kendry?") Sandra finally uttered my name, "Kendra?" Her voice had an odd accent when saying my name, but I liked it.

Sandra shuffled from the couch and disappeared into one of the rooms in her home. When she came back out she was holding a large rolled up object that turned out to be a map of something.

"Where are you from, Kendra?"

Her words were said slowly, but that did not change the fact I couldn't understand her. " _What is this_?"

Neither of us were able to truly understand what the other was saying, but with a few gestures and from the tones of our voices we could mostly figure it out. It was how I learned that the map she showed me was an image of her world they called "Earth". There were several large land masses, and we were on one called the "United States of America", thankfully she shortened it to "America". We were on the southern part of the map in a city called "Los Angeles, California".

When trying to find some sort of calendar to try and ask what day it was I discovered an odd contraption on her wall. It was round in shape with 12 large digits on it, and three sticks that ticked around the circle. One moved much faster than the other two.

Sandra noticed my interest in the odd machine and called it a "clock". To explain the digits she held up one finger for the word "one", and two fingers for the word "two".

When I saw her use her fingers I got excited. My people would use their fingers to count numbers when first learning their maths. Those twelve digits must have been twelve of this worlds numbers. This clock also reminded me of the old sundial in the sunroom of my old home. That meant these were their own numbers from one to twelve.

I held up my own finger, " _One_."

Sandra shook her head, "No. One." She held up her finger again, "One."

I blinked in recognition of her trying to get me to copy the words of her own language, "On."

"One."

"Won."

"Yes, one."

"One!"

The rest of our conversation consisted of her teaching me numbers all the way up to twelve. Since I knew how the sundial worked I was able to get the general mechanics of the clock. It took a while to understand what the odd moving sticks did, but the fastest one told something called "seconds", the longest one told the "hours"–which I determined to work the same as the shadow of a sundial, and the last "hand" counted the "minutes".

I soaked up of the new words like a sponge, and I hoped I would be able to remember them all by morning.

The last thing Sandra showed me was the door that had been closed. She opened the door and gestured to what she called a "room". There was a "bed", and a "closet". Apparently Sandra was going to let me stay there for the night. That point took a while to get across, but I drew her into a firm yet gentle hug all the same.

She left me alone in the "room", and without much else to do I sat myself on the edge of the bed. I took off the sandals I made before making the particles combust back into the air. For my clothes I changed them into a material as smooth as spiders silk. They were heavenly to sleep in, and were the reason I was able to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

Sandra was a gift from the Gods and Goddesses themselves. She was willing to let me stay in her apartment above the tavern she called a "bar". Every day I stayed in her home I learned more an more words in their "English" language. I also learned that their years are made up of twelve months. I didn't know the name of every month, but it was currently April fourteenth of the year two thousand and six. The fourth month in the year.

Another thing Sandra did was buy what must have been children's books. One was an ABC book that I could use to learn my letters, and then use the letters I learn to read another picture book. Simple things like "dog", "cat", "apple". Despite their simplicity it helped me greatly.

There were some things that the children's books couldn't teach me. Like adjectives or verbs. Sandra taught me those things with a lot of patience and repetition.

I felt bad for taking her hospitality without giving anything in return, so I asked her if she could teach me how to bartend. For that I had to learn what each alcohol was called. There was one day when I learned what each drink tasted like individually, and the day after that I learned how to mix them. This world had some fairly tasty liquor.

It was several weeks before Sandra felt that I was ready to take on the bar. She chose one of the slower days for me to test the waters with.

By then I was able to say and understand basic sentences. I was thankful she waited so long before putting me out onto the floor because it was very hard. Of course she was there to help me out and let the customer know I was new.

When the work day was over I was very familiar with the words "I'm sorry" for how many times messed up or made the drink wrong.

It was my fourth month staying with Sandra, making it August. Sandra brought up a word I'd never heard before, "Did you go to college?"

I looked at her confusedly, "What is 'college'?"

"It's school. A place where you go to learn."

I nodded in understanding, "I have never done college."

"It may be wise for you to go to one. Then you can get a degree and get a good paying job."

There were a few words I did not understand, but the meaning of her statement was clear, "Where is this college and how do I travel there?"

"There's a university close by. You can can stay on campus and take some of their classes. I will pay for it as long as you come back here every once and a while to help out."

I slowly nodded once I deciphered what she said, "When do I go?"

"The school year begins next month so it's a bit late. I'll enroll you anyway to see if they'll accept you. If not we can try again next year." She continued once she explained a few of her words and I understood everything she said, "There might be some problems since I assume you don't have the necessary papers to apply."

Of course I didn't have whatever papers it was that this college required. Sandra helped me get everything I needed because I didn't have any of them. Some sort of high school transcripts and some ACT scores–whatever those were. I told her I was taught by my parents and a family friend sometimes tutored me.

Sandra had me write a letter to the college for why I wanted to attend, while she left the house to apparently go meet with the master of the campus. A "principal" was what she called it.

Writing a letter about why I wanted to go to the university was very difficult. The first reason was because of my impaired writing skills. Speaking in English was one thing, but writing in it was another. Either way I did my best with a little help from an online translator.

Sandra came home with the happy news that, if my letter to them was exceptionally good, then they would accept me for the upcoming school year. Another catch for the letter was that it would have to be sent in three days. Sandra was more than willing to help refine it.

Two days later the letter was sent, and two days after that I got my letter of acceptance to go to the University. Sandra helped me pick out what classes I should take. Just basic classes for math, english, American history, and she also sent a letter asking if someone on campus could help teach me more English.

The science classes were the ones I was most interested in. One of them was called "physics", a class about life and charges and electrons. It sounded like a class I could apply my magic to. The other class was an engineering class that applied these physics to make things like the metal carriages outside called "cars".

Moving into the university was easy. The only personal belongings I had were the few clothes that Sandra bought for me. Material objects weren't a problem for me anyway when I could just change things into whatever I needed or make what I wanted.

My room was rather small with a twin bed, a desk, one closet, and a bathroom that connected to another dorm room that was a mirror image of mine. The freshman girl staying in that room was a pretty nineteen year old brunette with green eyes. She introduced herself as Jessica Whiteman.

Our first night in the dorms Jessica noticed something, "Wicked accent. Where you from?"

I shrugged, "Far north. I have trouble with English speaking sometimes."

Jessica waved her hand, "Don't worry about it, I'll help you learn."

"You will?"

"Of course…you know, I don't know your name."

"Kendra."

She blinked and spoke after a beat of silence, "No last name?"

An image of my parents presented itself in my mind, but I pushed it away, "No."

Jessica patted me on the shoulder, "That's alright, mate." She pulled me into her room, "Let's watch some YouTube."

Entering her dorm room made me feel much more at ease. Mine didn't have any decorations and was rather bland, but her walls were covered in photos of people Jessica must have been close with. She also had posters of people and sayings. One said I heart Tony Stark, whoever that was.

"Come here Ken." I looked over to see her huff, "Do you think that nickname would work? It's a little Barbie-ish."

My brows furrowed, "'Barbie-ish'?"

"You know, Barbie? The doll?" When my confusion persisted she started looking at me like I was crazy, "How can you not know Barbie? Here," she gestured me over and opened some sort of rectangular device. It was sleek with a screen on the top half, and the bottom half still on the desk had odd buttons on it with numbers and letters.

Jessica started rapidly pressing the letters before stopping and pointing at the screen, "This is Barbie. She's got a boy-toy named Ken."

I looked at the lit up screen filled with images of a plastic doll with blonde hair. "What is this?" I breathed.

"I told you, it's Barbie."

"No, no, this!" I gestured to the rectangular thing.

"It's a laptop. Do you not know what that is either?"

The new word had me looking at her with shining eyes, and when Jessica saw that she knew I wasn't joking about not knowing what a laptop was, "Where are you from again? It must have been in the middle of bloody nowhere for you to not know these things."

"Uh," I scratched my arm nervously, "it was pretty far. Everything in this city is new for me."

"Well then," she started typing on her computer again, "looks like I'm going to be teaching you a lot of things."

Those few things turned out to be several many things. I stayed up on the laptop for hours, researching every single little thing that caught my interest–which was a lot. Things like popular sayings, and what movies and tv shows I wanted to watch.

The moon was high in the sky when I finally dragged myself away from the computer. Jessica was asleep in her bed so I had to quietly walk through the bathroom to get to my own room. With a little magic I changed the blankets and sheets on the bed to a soft silk material similar to my favorite pajamas.

Sleep was a long time in coming. I only had one class the next day and thankfully it didn't start until later in the afternoon. It allowed me to get at least a few hours of sleep before I had to rush around trying to find where the classroom was.

With it being the first class I've ever had with other people I was very nervous. I've only ever been taught by my tutor.

In the end the class was a very enjoyable experience. Professor Michel, as we were told to call him, was a balding elderly fellow with wire-rim glasses. He wrote everything we needed to know on the green board with a white stick. Many of the people in the class weren't paying the slightest bit of attention while others wrote the notes diligently. I was part of the latter group. Being our first day of class we only really talked about the syllabus, but I realized I already knew some of the material.

Copying down the notes helped me learn more of the English language. It was why I paid such close attention in my classes. I paid the most attention in my Physics and Engineering classes. The information on how everything worked without magic was extraordinary.

One day during my math class I was interrupted by someone throwing a wad of paper at my head. I glanced in the direction it came from before knocking the paper off of my desk and continued writing. When the third ball of paper hit my head I sighed in aggravation and sat up straighter to find some fellow freshman staring right at me.

"Hey, I'm John."

I rose an incredulous eyebrow before turning back to my notes in irritation. Professor Michel didn't exactly wait for you to catch up if you fall behind.

"What's your name?"

I studiously ignored him and listened to one of his friends snicker about me being "not interested". Jessica has taught me a lot about the English language, including my sessions in class, but it took me a few minutes to understand what the statement meant. Apparently this "John" person liked me. How strange.

The bell signaling the end of class rang throughout the room and everybody collected their belongings gratefully. In my first week at the university I noticed everybody had packs sling onto their backs, that or a large purse to carry their laptops and books in. Jessica told me people used these backpacks made it easier to carry things.

By now Jessica knew there was something very different about me. I didn't know what a backpack was, or a laptop. The fact I had never heard of the Internet before was very strange. Everybody in the world knew what it was, no matter how remote. It's how Jessica found herself teaching me about the culture here and constantly asking me where I'm from.

Every time the question came up I would just smile and say, "Far away." The answer always irritated Jessica, but from the amount of times I've said it she eventually got used to it. Now she'll just ask me for the sake of asking. She calls it an inside joke, but I don't see the humor.

Halfway through the school year I found myself being dragged from my bed by an excited Jessica. "What are you doing? We don't have class today!"

"I know, that's why today's the perfect day!" She pushed me to my closet and sat down on my bed, "Now get dressed! We have to go!"

I struggled into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. With Jessica in the room I didn't want to use any magic to make my clothes, "Where are we going?"

Jessica smiled excitedly, "Stark Industries."


	4. Chapter 4

Without a car Jessica and I had to hail a cab. The process of getting one was rather fascinating. People drove these "cabs" for a living? Why? How was I supposed to trust that this man would take us to our destination and not get lost or try to kill us? Jessica was the only reason I got in the vehicle, and I didn't relax until we got out.

Stark Industries was, so far, the second most beautiful thing I've encountered in this world. The first encounter is the ocean view I get when sitting on top of city skyscrapers. The inside was just as pristine as the outside, so much so that I could see my reflection in the floors. It made me wonder who cleaned this place because I didn't see a single janitor.

Jessica walked right up to the woman at the front desk and my feet unconsciously followed after her. Whatever they were talking about didn't really concern me so I contented myself with examining the technology in the room. I didn't look at it so much as feel it with my magic. The particles in every object worked together to get everything working, and it was beautiful. Like an art only I could see and feel. There was something huge way down below us, something as pure as my magic, but I couldn't tell what it was and why it felt that way. As far as I knew I was the only magic user in this city, possibly this world.

"Here," turning around I was handed a hard board with papers clipped to it, "you should fill one out too since you're here."

Looking down at the object I was handed I blinked in confusion. I had no idea what the paper was.

Jessica saw this and snorted, "It's an application. Haven't you filled one out before?"

I shook my head sheepishly.

"Kenny, honestly," Jessica's voice was filled with exasperation as she handed me a pen, "write down your response on the lines next to the questions. I'll look over your spelling afterwards to make sure it's correct."

Nodding gratefully I looked at the first line to see it ask for my last, first, then middle name. "Um, Jessica?" I poked her shoulder to get her to look over, "I don't have a middle name, or a last name."

Her eyes widened, "Are you serious? I thought you didn't give me your last name because you didn't want me to know? And no middle name? Everybody has one."

"Jessica," my tone was pleading, "just help me out. What do I put?"

She rubbed her face almost tiredly, "Alright. Put your first name down at least."

Bringing down the pen I slowly started writing out the letters and looked back up at her when I finished, "Should I leave the others blank?"

"No," she hurried, "that wouldn't be okay. They'd be suspicious or something because, really, who wouldn't put their names? Write a fake one."

I balked, "Wha–a fake one? Isn't that just as bad?"

"I don't think so. Just put one. Didn't you use one when you signed up for your classes?"

Biting my lip in thought I slowly nodded. Sandra decided I would use her last name since I told her I didn't have one as well. So on the application I wrote Adams. As for my middle name there was nothing sentimental for me to write. I wasn't going to use my mother's name, and Kendra Sandra sounded odd to me, so I just wrote down Valerie.

Jessica saw the name, "Who's Valerie?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, but she's my middle name now." Jessica giggled in amusement and I continued to fill out the form. In the end I needed help filing out the whole thing because I didn't have any definite answers. I had no phone or email to be contacted by, which made Jessica laugh, "Where are you from?"

My form was basically a mirror image of Jessica's because I used her phone number, her email, her address, and she let me use her mother as a reference. I filled out my previous place of work, which was the bar along with the fact I've finished one year of my college education. As for salary I didn't really care what I got, and I put the same thing for position. I even wrote, "I could clean for all I care."

Jessica saw that when she checked over my spelling, (by now I was fairly fluent with speaking and writing in English because of my time in college, but it was nice to have it checked). She was upset that I would go for something "as boring as cleaning" since we were both at the top of our physics classes, with me excelling in my engineering class as well. Apparently working in Stark Industries looks really good on resume's, but doing maintenance work wouldn't.

"Kendra you're wicked smart. You could make an atom bomb out of a toaster if you wanted to. How could you keep that to yourself?"

I snorted, "I think you're exaggerating my capabilities, Jess. Besides I'm an old woman in her freshman year of college, would Mr. Stark–or anybody–really believe I was that smart?"

"Hey," Jessica said warningly, "Stark is an absolutely brilliant human being. If he doesn't think you're smart I will personally slap him."

"I don't think you have to go that far," I nodded at the lady we handed our applications to before leaving the building. Jessica hailed another cab and I grimaced before reluctantly getting in.

She absently told the driver where to go before looking at me, "Still. With how smart you are he would be an idiot not to hire you."

Exactly one week later Jessica and I were doing homework in her dorm room when she received a call from an unknown number. I waited patiently in her desk chair while she spoke cordially with the person on the other end. After a "thank you so much" and "yeah she's here", the phone was tossed into my lap while Jessica did a silent happy dance.

I watched her with an amused smile as I put the phone against my ear, "This is Kendra."

"Hello Ms. Adams, this is Virginia Potts from Stark Industries," the woman had a smooth voice that meant business, "I have called to inform you and Ms. Whiteman that I looked over your applications and would like to interview the two of you."

I nodded even though Ms. Potts couldn't see, "That would be lovely, thank you."

"How does tomorrow at ten sound?"

I hummed, "Perfect. We'll be there." After exchanging goodbyes I hung up the phone and handed it back to Jessica–who was still jumping up and down like a maniac but was now openly squealing, "We got it! We got the jobs!"

"Slow down Jess," I laughed at her excitement, "we don't know that. This meeting could end up going horribly wrong and then neither of us will get it."

That got her to stop jumping and earned me a sullen glare, "Now I'm worried." Jessica ran over to her bed and dove under the covers, "When's the meeting?"

"Tomorrow at ten."

She bolted upright, "I have a class!"

"I guess," I licked my lips, "you'll have to skip."

Jessica opened her mouth, probably to object, when she shrugged, "Yeah, I could. Now get out! I need rest."

Rolling my eyes I logged off of her computer before moving into my room. I now had an email account set up on her computer so I would at least have something people could contact me with–according to Jessica. Neither of us had the money to buy me a phone, and I wouldn't even ask her to do something like that. I knew they were expensive from what I've looked up on the Internet.

Falling asleep that night was a chore. My eyes just could not stay closed for long periods of time. I played around with my magic for hours. Making balls of light appear in my hand and throwing them at the wall where they would disburse back into nothing. It was entertaining to see different colors hit the wall, but I eventually grew bored of that.

There was one thing I owned that I would never get tired of looking at.

Rummaging through my desk drawer I paused when my eyes landed on a shining red light. Cautiously reaching down I plucked the stone out of its spot and set it in the empty space in the middle of my desk. I never got tired of staring at the stone that exuded an inner light. That light hasn't dimmed at all since the day I entered this world. It seemed to pulse with an energy that I could feel with my magic. I could feel this stone was important, but how and why I didn't know.

Hours flew by while I stared down at the stone. I wouldn't have noticed at all if Jessica's alarm hadn't gone off in the other room. With astonished eyes I blinked at the morning sunlight drifting into my room and bolted out of my seat. Swiping the stone into my hand I debated whether or not I should put it back into the drawer when I felt it steadily heating up in my hand. It always did that, and I worried what I would do should someone else decided to try and touch it.

Making my decision I manipulated the particles around the stone to form a thin layer of glass around the stone, then made an ivory chain attach itself to the glass with decorative metal ivy. Slipping the chain over my head I tucked the stone under my shirt and was pleased to note that the case prevented it from touching my skin. Seems it can touch anything with no problem, but prolonged skin contact was a no go.

Walking into the bathroom I began the process of brushing my hair and teeth when a frantic Jessica burst in to do the same. "Kendra!" She gasped out. "You aren't dressed yet?"

I examined her formal attire of a pencil skirt and blue blouse and shrugged, "Not yet." Spitting out my toothpaste I walked into my room to change my clothes, "Give me a minute."

Changing my clothes consisted of my magic morphing them into an outfit similar to Jessica's. I wore a grey pencil skirt that ended at my knees, a red blouse, and a grey cardigan to put over it. The stone stayed tucked underneath my shirt, and I had no intentions of taking it out.

Jessica knocked once before entering. When she saw me she gave a low whistle, "You're gorgeous. What shoes have you got to wear?"

Walking into my closet I pulled out the black flats I was wearing when I first came to this world. They were the last things I owned from my home, and I couldn't find it within myself to part with them, "These are all I have." I would've made anot her pair, but Jessica was in the room.

"Then let's go," she grabbed my arm and pulled me across campus so we could take yet another taxi. I was very tempted to just tell her we didn't need it and I could fly us there, but in the end we took the taxi.

It was a very nerve filled ride to Stark Industries. Jessica babbled about how nervous she was, and that if I didn't get a job then she wouldn't accept one–to which I protested against. If one of us got a job while the other didn't then we should support them without any hard feelings.

Pulling up to the building proved even more nerve wracking, and the two of us descended into a tense silence. I broke it by going up to the woman at the front desk, "I'm Kendra Adams. My friend Jessica Whiteman and I are here for an interview. Ms. Potts called." Thankfully I no longer hesitated with introducing myself with Adams as a last name since my professors call me by it all the time.

The woman hummed and picked up her phone. She pushed one of the numbers and was silent for a few moments before speaking to the person on the other end, "Ms. Potts? A Ms. Adams and Ms. Whiteman are apparently here for an interview." She nodded a few times with some noises of agreement before hanging up. "Take the elevator to floor four, room 411. Your interviews will be held there."

Nodding in thanks I looked around before spotting the elevators off to the side. We walked over and pushed our way into the elevator to go to the fourth floor. It was a bit of an awkward silence, and when the doors opened on the floor the two of us scrambled out.

Making it down the hall we stopped in front of room 411. I knocked on the door and looked through the office windows to see a strawberry blonde woman sitting inside. She looked up and when she saw us waved for me to open the door.

Grasping the handle I pushed it open, "Hello ma'am."

The woman stood up from her seat as I walked up to give her hand a shake. I kept a pleasant smile on my face as I spoke, "I'm Kendra Adams and this is my friend," I dropped her hand to gesture to Jessica, "Jessica Whiteman."

The woman smiled as well, "I'm Virginia Potts, we spoke on the phone."

"Ah yes," I nodded, "I remember. Did you want to speak with us separately or…?"

Ms. Potts nodded, "Separately would be preferable. If you wouldn't mind going then Ms. Whiteman," she looked at Jessica, "could you wait in one of the chairs outside?"

Jessica nodded immediately, "Of course." With a mouthed "good luck" to me, Jessica left the room.

"Please take a seat and we may begin," Ms. Potts gestured to the chair behind me that I sat in while she stayed in the seat behind her desk. "Tell me a bit about yourself, and why you chose Stark Industries as a choice of work."

I smiled, "There's not much to know about me. I would like to think I'm a very passionate person when it comes to working. It doesn't matter what the job is, I'm willing to learn whatever I have to to complete my job. As for choosing Stark Industries," I shrugged, "in all honestly I didn't choose it. Jessica brought me here so she could try and get a job, and I ended up filling out an application as well. It's not that I don't think it would be amazing to work here though." My voice became passionate, "This building is crawling with beautiful pieces of technology that I want to figure out. How does it all work? What goes into them to make them work?"

Ms. Potts examined me with a tight smile, "I don't think you would be able to learn that by cleaning everything."

I shrugged, "That is very true. Cleaning something won't let me see how all of its internal mechanisms are working, but that doesn't concern me. I did say it wasn't my idea to work here. To me just being a janitor would be an honor."

She hummed, "It also says here you worked in a bar." Her eyebrow rose. "How did you decide to choose between a bar and Stark Industries?"

"I was in a bit of a rough patch when I first came here. The owner of the bar took me in and taught me everything I know about bar tending," thinking of Sandra made me smile. "She wanted me to go to college so I went, and now I'm taking physics and engineering classes which is why I've become so interested in technology. In Stark Industries I can do more with my abilities."

"You do realize that, should you get a position here, it won't be very high up. You've only completed one year of your schooling despite your age."

I nodded in understanding, "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else. That's why I said I would be happy cleaning things. I have to start somewhere, and if that's the bottom then that's where I'll go."

Ms. Potts sighed, "Well Ms. Adams, I'm afraid you're minimal amount of schooling is the reason I cannot put you onto any of our current projects. Stark Industries manages weapons after all. We can't have amateurs working here."

My eyes widened because I had no idea this place worked with weapons, "I agree."

She suddenly gave me a small smile, the most genuine one out of our entire conversation, "But if you're still interested in becoming a janitor then I am more than happy to accept you."

I huffed in disbelief. "Really?"

"It's definitely not the best of jobs," Ms. Potts inclined her head in some sort of apology. "You are old enough, and you're smart enough to clean mechanical parts without breaking them." She suddenly smiled wider. "Hopefully."

I laughed, "No I can definitely clean without doing any damage." Standing up from my chair I held out my hand, "I will be more than happy to become Stark Industries janitor." With happy smiles we shook hands. "I can always strive to be the best janitor this place has ever seen."

Ms. Potts actually laughed at that, and it made me feel very accomplished. "That you can."

"Should I come in tomorrow with my schedule so we can work out what times I can come in for work?"

Ms. Potts nodded. "That would be ideal. Do you have any classes in the afternoon?"

I shook my head. "No, ma'am. I'm free all day."

"Perfect. Come back here tomorrow at noon." With another handshake and a smile of thanks I exited the office quietly. Jessica was sitting in a chair across the hall, and when she saw me stood up quickly.

"How'd it go? Did you get a job?"

I smiled, "I did, but let's talk later." Stepping aside I urged her forward. "Good luck."

She gave me a nod of thanks before taking a deep breath and walking in. I very badly wanted to give my own little victory dance, but with such an open office where everybody would see me I contained myself. With a sigh of content I sat on the chair Jessica has previously occupied and prayed to the Gods and Goddesses that she would get a job too.


	5. Chapter 5

Our ride back to the flat was silent. Jessica didn't say a word when she left Ms. Potts' office, and that was enough to tell me she didn't get a job. I didn't know what to say to make her feel better, so I sat in an awkward silence while Jessica sat rigidly.

She finally broke down when we entered the secluded safety of our dorm room. Her sobs were loud and I didn't know what to do so I just sat down at her desk chair and waited for her to say something.

Thankfully I didn't have to wait long, "It doesn't make any bloody sense. Why'd you get a job and not me? You didn't even want a job!"

I sighed, "What job were you hoping to get?"

She sniffled, "I would have liked to be an intern. Maybe help with blueprints."

"Then that's probably why they didn't hire you." Jessica sent me a betrayed look and I rushed to continue, "It's not that you aren't smart, Jess. You're brilliant. It's just that you're only a freshman in college, and they want someone with a lot of experience working on bombs and missiles."

Jessica coughed a little, "I guess you're right. It still sucks though." She sent me a confused look, "What position did you get?"

I smiled sheepishly, "You are looking at Stark Industries new janitor."

There was a beat of silence before Jessica started laughing. It was a little on the hysterical side, but that was alright. She was upset about not getting the job.

For the rest of the day Jessica and I lazed about in her room watching cheesy romance movies and eating fattening foods. Later that night I had to go to my History class, but we were content to forget about Stark Industries for the rest of that afternoon.

The next day I, reluctantly, told Jessica that I had a meeting with Ms. Potts that afternoon. In return I was given a sad smile with a mumbled "good luck". I felt bad that I was going to be working in the building Jessica had her heart set on, and more than once I thought about not accepting the job, but I needed money to pay back Sandra for everything she's done for me.

This time I wore a black pencil skirt with a matching black blazer over a white button up. The red stone found its spot beneath my shirt as my new necklace. With a simple pair of black heels I set off towards Stark Industries. Without Jessica I didn't have to take one of those taxi's, so I choose to leave early and walk there. Walking allowed me to enjoy the city more thoroughly.

Once inside the Stark building I immediately walked up to the elevator to go to the fourth floor. Ms. Potts was waiting in her office just like the day before, and she greeted me with a smile. "Ms. Adams," we shook hands, "glad you could make it."

I took a seat with a small smile, "Glad I could be here." Unfolding a piece of paper that was in my hands I held it our for her to take, "This is my current schedule."

Ms. Potts took the paper with a nod and laid it out on her desk. She looked over all of my classes with pursed lips. "So you have no classes Friday through Sunday. Would you be open to working a full shift those days?"

I nodded, "That's fine." I'll have to tell Sandra I won't be able to help out with the bar as often.

"How about Tuesday mornings as well? You don't have any classes until later in the evening."

"That's fine. Do you need me at any other times? Because I know a full time job requires more time than that."

Ms. Potts shook her head, "For now we can treat it as a part-time job, and when your summer comes you can come on full time."

I smiled, "Thank you so much for this Ms. Potts."

She gave me a small smile as well and stood up. I followed after her as she led me down the hallway to a small nondescript door. When she opened it I realized it was a cleaning closet. "There's a closet on every floor that you will, of course, have access to," Ms. Potts reached into the closer and pulled out a grey jumpsuit. She handed it to me, "This is your uniform. Wear it every day when you come here. I will get your keys by next Friday, when you come in for your first day."

Grabbing the suit with an understanding nod I watched her close and lock the closet. She suddenly turned to me, "I didn't mention this earlier but you will also be given a minimum wage."

"Of course." We shook hands before going our separate ways.

Jumpsuit in hand I left Stark Industries with the intent of going back to the University. Instead I ended up finding my way into a secluded alley, changed my clothes to comfy sweats, and flew high into the sky. Up there I was finally alone. Able to yell until my happiness reached a containable level.

My life in this new world was absolutely perfect. I've been here for over a year and I've learned its English language along with a subject I excelled in without the use of magic. At least my magic was able to help me out during the hands-on learning because it could detect if something was wrong.

The end of my freshman year was rapidly approaching. Then it's off to sophomore year where I would be taking the same classes, only one level higher. I decided I would add a French class to my schedule because I learned English was not the only language spoken.

Jessica was determined to stay in touch with me since she would be going back to London for the summer. I would have to trade e-mails with her until I figured out how to get one of those cell phones. They were a genius invention, and my hands itched to build one for myself.

Pushing myself higher into the air I directed myself towards the ocean. As always it was a truly beautiful sight. I would have landed down on the beach, but there were people there. My sudden appearance from the sky would no doubt freak everybody out, and once again I would become a social pariah. Sure I could deal with that kind of stuff, but it still bothers me on a deeper level.

Deciding to walk on the beach later that night when nobody was around I flew farther out over the water until I deemed it safe enough to dive near the surface. I dragged my fingers through the cool waters and twirled my fingers up to make bouts of water shoot over me.

To my surprise and shock a large animal suddenly emerged from the water next to me. It was grey in color and shot a blast of water out of a hole in its head. Thinking it dangerous I flew a little higher and realized I could see the animal from above the surface. It was an absolutely magnificent creature that reached nearly twenty meters in length.

Off to my right another spout of water blew, announcing the presence of another large creature. Another and another breached the surface until the water was filled with these unfamiliar animals.

Feeling a little daring I waited until the one directly beneath me came back up before reaching out to touch it. It was the smoothest thing I'd ever felt, and the water rippling over its back was probably a part of that. My palm dragged over the animals back as it slowly dove back into the water. It's tail came up as if to wave goodbye before he disappeared. The rest of its pod soon followed suit.

Breathing a sigh of amazement I looked around and realized the sun was beginning to set. The beach was nothing but a dot on the horizon and I changed my course to return to the sandy beach. Hopefully by the time I got there it would be night time and I could enjoy a cool walk along the sandy shores.


	6. Chapter 6

As arranged Ms. Potts gave me an extendable keychain that held a card doubling as my personal ID and the key that would let me into all parts of the building. I was surprised she would hand over such an important card to a stranger, but she pointed out I was a janitor and they clean the entire building. She also told me she felt she could trust me without needing to run background checks on me.

When I asked Jessica what a background check was I felt immensely relieved. If someone tried to do that for me they would find nothing but my college records. No doubt that would be really suspicious since I didn't have what Jessica called a "birth certificate" or any sort of identification. How I got this far in my new life without them must have been luck.

My first paycheck from Stark Industries had Jessica complaining from jealousy. According to her everybody who worked for Stark got overpaid because it was run by the genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist known as Tony Stark.

Even I could admit the number in the check made my eyebrows rise a bit, and I got paid every week. Once I hit full time the number only went up and Jessica was always asking me to pay on our "girls night"–not that I minded.

In a month I had enough money to buy both a laptop and a cell phone. I brought Jessica with me so she could help me pick out the best ones. For the phone I had to pick a company–which was odd. Why not just have one network?–then I got the newest phone that came out just that year.

For the laptop we asked one of the workers to point us to the best laptop to use in college and afterwards.

It was only a couple of months after that when my freshman year of college ended. Jessica made me promise to text and call her before she left for the airport to go back home.

Instead of going back to live with Sandra I searched the city for a nice apartment near the ocean to rent. I made sure I got one near the top floor so I could have a better view of the blue abyss. I could stare out for hours and never get bored.

When I finally found an apartment I liked it was a little pricey but I could afford it on my current salary. The building was like a tall rectangle. The bottom floor was the lobby and the elevators were located at the back. When they brought you up to your floor the doors opened to reveal a hallway. The higher up you were the larger the rooms got so there were less rooms.

My floor only had two doors, mine being on the right side of the hall. When entering the room the entire opposite wall had floor to ceiling windows that gave me a perfect view of the ocean. To the right was the kitchen with white cupboards and black marble countertops. There was also an island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the apartment that must have been the living room space.

The right wall of the kitchen was sunken in. It held a doorway that led into a simple half-bath with a set of screen doors revealing laundry machines. A washer and dryer I think they were called.

In the middle of the wall opposite from the kitchen was a door. Turning the handle I opened the door to reveal an empty bedroom. The opposite wall had two doors, one leading to a nice full bathroom and the other a small closet. The wall on the right wasn't a wall but the same floor to ceiling windows, except in the middle there were sliding glass doors leading out to a balcony.

The apartment was perfect for me, but I needed furniture. The kitchen already had stainless steel appliances so I didn't have to worry about a refrigerator or anything like that, but I needed a bed, maybe a dresser, and more clothes. I could only fit so much in a dorm room closet and I couldn't magic all of my clothes on. People might wonder where I get it and where they go.

For the living room I'd need some furniture and a tv. While I could watch the ocean all day I was sure other people would get bored very quickly.

The first thing I needed to take care of was food and clothes, along with other small things like plates, utensils, and bathroom products.

I bought mostly snack foods to tie me over until my next paycheck. Once I got it I went on my shopping spree. I bought the silverware with red glass bowls and plates, and tall glass cups. I also got black hand towels to put in the bathroom off the kitchen. For the bathroom in my new bedroom I chose red and royal purple hand towels and regular towels. Red shower curtains, along with toilet paper and hand soap to put in both bathrooms.

Some of the foods I bought were things Jessica and I would always eat on our slim college budget, but now I had enough money to splurge on different meats and ingredients I didn't even know how to use, so I invested in some cook books, pots and pans, and measuring utensils.

On my next paycheck I went for clothes. I bought a ton of skinny jeans, bras and underwear, and a bunch of t-shirts. I also got several pairs of sandals. Jessica said every girl should own a "little black dress", so I went to a rather expensive looking shop and got a sleeveless black dress that came mid-thigh and hugged my curves. I also saw a mid-thigh, deep red dress with a low V neckline, long sleeves, and the back swooped down passed my shoulder blades. To go with the dresses I got a pair of black high-heels and another pair in red.

All of my shopping had to be done in several different trips. There was no way I could carry all of those bags in one fell swoop. The bags of food alone filed up my arms. It's only thanks to my magic making them feather-light that kept me from falling over.

While shopping took all day, putting everything away took the rest of the night. I was completely wiped out, and I had to use magic to make a chair for me to collapse in. I could use magic to get the bed and couches, but it wasn't the same as the real thing. Never as comfortable.

That night I had to put up with a magically made folding chair to sleep in. I woke up with a horrible pain in my neck and promised myself to never do anything like that again.

A bed was the first piece of furniture I bought. I threw out the sheets I used at the college and bought two new sets. One red and the other a royal purple to match my bathroom. For all the windows in the apartment I installed silver bars to hang white curtains in a light-material to block some of the sunlight, but not all. When I left the doors to my balcony open the ocean breeze made them flutter around.

Now that all of my shopping made me poor I used my cookbook to make my own meals. I thought I was decent at it once I googled how to use the stove. The dishwasher was another thing I had to look up how to use. My next shopping trip I needed to buy dish and laundry soap.

Being poor was not a nice feeling. It left me confined to my apartment since I didn't have the money to do anything. I was only too happy to go to work that week since I knew I would be getting paid for it.

Working as a janitor wasn't really that bad. It's not like I was the only janitor either so I didn't have to clean every floor (and there were a lot). I only met two other janitors. One was grumpy and a college student like I was, so I didn't talk to him much. The other was an older man with a friendly disposition. He's the one that showed me the basement. That was where all of the broken and unusable parts got thrown out. Garbage people came through a garage door on the far side of the facility to pick it up.

I always thought about that basement. All of those parts, and yet they were being thrown away like scrap metal. Couldn't the workers here fix them? Or maybe turn them into something else so they could remain usable?

The last question got me thinking. Maybe…maybe I could use them? It's not like anybody else cared about them since they thought it was garbage. I shrink the materials down so nobody would notice me taking them out, then take them home.

That meant I needed to buy tools. I could use magic to shape and weld them, but I don't know how well that would work, or if they would stay that way. I'll also have to buy some sort of work bench.

I don't know what I would be making with these parts, but I could find out when the time came. For now the other furniture was what I needed; therefore more important.

The entire week I was impatient to get my paycheck. While I had my bed to sit and sleep on I wanted a couch, some chairs, electronics, tables, a desk, and some dressers.

Once I had my check I cashed it in like I usually did. Debating with myself over what furniture to buy first I decided it would be best to just get some bar stools to place at the kitchen island. Then I'll have something to sit on that isn't confined to my bedroom. I'd save my next couple of pay checks so I can get the sofa and a few other things.

I bought three sandy brown stools to put by the kitchen island. I could sit on them whike using my computer to browse all the different types of couches I could get.

By the time I decided I had enough saved up for another shopping spree it had been a full month. July was staring to come to an end and I dreaded having to go back to school early September. Not that I didn't love the experience, but my new brand of independence was nice.

Pushing those thoughts from my mind I set out for the rest of my furniture. The woman who helped me pick everything out was very helpful with narrowing down my choices. In the end I chose a red love-seat and chair, a glass end table, a silver lamp, and another glass table to put in front of the sofa. To protect my wooden floors I bought a white rug for everything to sit on.

I still had enough money to buy a cherry wood dresser for my bedroom, along with a matching nightstand. The dresser had six drawers, two across and three down, but it definitely helped empty out my closet. For the nightstand I got another small lamp.

The apartment looked much better now that it had furniture inside to make it look more homey. Unfortunately I still needed more things, but I forced myself to wait a little while before buying any more.

I never realized how much money went into buying a new home. Not just the home itself but furnishing it was another money problem all together. I was only too lucky to get such a good paying job.

I kept the living room furniture closer to the kitchen because I decided I would go through with my plan of "borrowing" the scraps from Stark Industries. I would set up a work desk against the wall to hold my tools, and that's where I would create whatever I can think of.

After my second paycheck I bought a black, wooden tv stand. It was pretty tall, and had shelves around where the tv would sit. The bottom had two glass doors to open more storage space. The guy who sold me the wireless 50" flatscreen tv said I could watch some awesome movies on it, like Star Wars.

That got me thinking of all the movies I needed to watch. Not necessarily for enjoyment, but to get up to speed with this worlds cultural references. Jessica could only explain so much.

Before buying movies I had to make sure I could get my workbench. Thankfully it wasn't too expensive and I could go to the nearest movie store and buy all sorts of movies. A quick text to Jessica had me buying every Disney movie, Forrest Gump, Star Wars, and a few other interesting ones.

After a 4 hour struggle with setting up the tv I finally figured the damn thing out. Then I had to set up the DVD player, pop in Cinderella, and I was lost.


	7. Chapter 7

According to Disney happily ever afters were set in stone. Despite that I loved every one of them. The one about the horse, Spirit, was my favorite. Hercules a close second.

I tried watching regular tv after my Disney marathon, to take a break from all of the movies, but I couldn't. I was so frustrated I finally had to look it up on the Internet. Apparently I needed to call a company and sign up with them. Scrolling through all of the choices I just chose AT&T and called them. The guy over the phone said they would send a guy out the later that day to set it up for me.

With a sigh of resignation I got ready for work. Just like every other day as a janitor it was full of boring jobs. Cleaning bathrooms, taking out garbage, basic things. When Lenny (the nice janitor) told me I could leave for the day I snuck down into the basement first. I grabbed all sorts of metals, shrunk them down, and stuffed them into my pockets. I pushed out my magic to find all of the wires that still worked and took those as well.

All of the items made my pockets bulge out, so I had to get out of their quickly and without notice. At one point I thought someone was walking up to confront me, maybe even fire me, but they passed by without a second glance.

Once I was out of the building I allowed myself to relax, and I continued home in a slight jog. I wasn't sure when the tv guy would get there, but hopefully he hadn't come yet or else he would have been waiting for who knows how long.

As it turns out an AT&T truck parked by the curb at the same time I opened the door to my building. The driver jumped out and walked to the back of his truck to pull out a bag that was probably full of all his working equipment.

"Are you the guy they told me they'd send out?"

His brown eyes connected with mine and he smiled genuinely, "Are you Ms. Adams?"

"I am."

He reached out a hand for me to shake, "Then I'm your guy."

I gave him a smile of my own, "Thank you for coming out," I looked at his name tag, "Carter, even though it's fairly late."

Carter just shrugged and followed me into the elevator, "This is nothing. I've been out even later. It's just something to expect in such a busy city."

The elevator finally made it to my floor and I led him to my door. "Really? What's the latest time you've been out?"

"I think you mean earliest, and that was around two o'clock."

I gave a low whistle, "I feel sorry for you. People should be sleeping at that time not setting up tv's." Walking over to the fridge I looked at the meager contents, "You want anything to drink while you work? I've got beer, soda, or you could have a glass of water."

He set his bag down near the tv stand as he studied what he had to work with, "Water, please."

Grabbing a tall glass I put a few ice cubes inside before filling it from the tap. I brought it over and set it down on the coffee table. I put a coaster beneath it, something I bought to protect the table.

I went to pull out my laptop when Carter's voice stopped me, "We may have to move the tv."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I looked over at him, "Why?"

He pointed to the opposite wall, "The cable cord is over there. I could run it underneath the floor to bring it over here, but that would require the buildings permission, and I would need to tear up your floor."

I sighed, "No, no that's alright. I'll help you move everything." The two of us got to work pulling the tables and couches out of the way. The tv came off of the stand to sit safely on the couch while we turned the heavy tv stand and carried it to the other side of the room. The rug made everything that much more difficult but eventually we got everything turned around.

With Carter now able to set up my tv I went into my room and dumped all of the miniature materials onto my bed. Every time I moved they would bang against one another. I was lucky Carter didn't get curious enough to ask what they were.

Before putting them on the workbench I'd bought I waited for Carter to finish with the tv. It took a little under an hour before he finally stood up from his crouched position and smiled over at me, "It's ready for you."

I smiled back gratefully, "Thank you."

He gathered his equipment into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He sent back one last wave before leaving the apartment. I waited about two seconds before dashing into my room and moving all of the materials into the living room. Once there I enlarged everything to its regular size.

I put the wires in separate piles based on color and material. Larger strips of metal leaned against the table while the rest could fit on the table top. Those were the only things I'd gathered because I was pretty sure I could get everything else I needed in a store or something.

Turning on the tv was the easier part, since the button clearly stated "power", but everything else took a little longer. The remote for the DVD player was easy, but it took me a few minutes to understand the guide button showed all of the shows currently on.

None of the shows were recognizable, so I called Jessica to get her opinion on tv shows. Criminal Minds was one she really loved, and soon I did as well. Along with Supernatural, a newer series called The Big Bang Theory, House, and Grey's Anatomy. Family Guy I did not like at all.

I ended up falling asleep on the couch and sleeping in the next morning. Bolting off the couch I brushed my hair and teeth and just used magic to change my clothes into my grey jumpsuit. I didn't fake my ID since that would most likely go wrong so I quickly grabbed mine before sprinting out the door.

Sucking up my courage I hailed a taxi because that would be quicker than running through the city. While sitting in the back seat I called Ms. Potts to tell her I would be late. Thankfully she understood and wasn't mad, but warned me not to do this again.

Nothing wrong happened the rest of the day. There were no major spills I needed to clean up, no explosions that meant I would have to stay later and scrub the blackened walls. Instead I got everything I needed to get done, done, and leave on time. It was early enough that I could stop at the local hardware store to buy welding tools, wrenches, an different types of bolts.

Back in my apartment I made myself a simple meal of sloppy joes–a sandwich I absolutely loved–and popped in the first Star Wars movie. Jessica said a lot of people loved the movie, but I didn't see it. Of course it was just the first movie and those light swords were very cool. The internet says they haven't been able to make them in real life. Maybe these would be the first thing I would endeavor to make; although, how I could make them when seasoned inventors can't imply this would be impossible for me.

That just makes me want to work even harder.

My project would have to wait. I needed a lot more supplies that would make for the internal mechanisms. Next I have to try and figure out how to make some sort of energy laser that reaches around three feet. I don't know how I was going to do this, but the prospect of building one made me giddy.

Shooting Jessica a text I got myself ready for bed. Brushing my hair and teeth then putting on a baggy t-shirt with cotton shorts. Leaving the sliding glass doors open I crawled into bed with a sigh, enjoying the smell of the salt water on the breeze.

Checking my phone I read Jessica's reply. Tomorrow was her flight to come back to America. School started next week, something neither of us were happy about, but we were excited to see each other again after the three month summer.

Reaching for the bedside table I set plugged my phone into its charger before turning off the lamp. My room immediately descended into darkness, the only thing to be seen were the lights of small shops leading to the ocean.


	8. Chapter 8

After another year of studying math, science, and history before I could finally focus on earning my masters in physics and engineering. Jessica and I still talked and met up for drinks, but not very often. Over the years she made more friends while I ended up becoming what she called a hermit. I found it hard to make new friends who could accept my clueless nature when it came to certain social cues.

Over time, and with Jessica's help, I could now understand most references. What I couldn't learn through movies or tv shows I found in books. The fact I kept involving Jessica always made me feel horrible. She had a life of her own outside of me that she should have been focusing on and having fun with.

I found myself forcefully pushing her away so she could enjoy life instead of being stuck inside with me. She liked to party while I liked staying inside to work on my projects. Projects meaning my lightsaber and most recently a hover board. The hover board proved to be much easier to make than the lightsaber.

I worked on the lightsaber for three years, so far my entire college career, and I've made decent progress. It's taken several different tries, explosions, and a ruined sweatshirt before I finally drew up a promising blueprint. Working on the hover board took a back seat as I concentrated on the lightsaber.

The new idea took months to work out, tweak, then finalize. For precaution I flew to the roof, so if anything went wrong I wouldn't blow a hole in a wall or the ceiling.

It looked similar to the saber's in the movies, if a more crude version. I held the metal cylinder with both hands and rested my right thumb on the black button. This wasn't the first time I've tried out my creation, only to discover the, all to be failures. While the mechanical make-up seemed promising I still shut my eyes before quickly pressing the button.

Against my expectations I heard a loud _whoosh_ followed by a constant buzzing. My breathing picked up and I slowly cracked open an eye to see a four foot rod of pure light. I stared at the white light with wide eyes before the sense of elation and absolute accomplishment filled my entire body.

Swirling my hands experimentally I felt an uncontrollable grin split across my face as the light rod followed the movements. I laughed, feeling the happiest I've ever been since coming to this world. One of my creations actually worked. All of my attempts finally paid off, and now I know I can actually accomplish something on my own without needing to follow a professor's instructions.

Pressing the button a second time I watched the light blink out of existence. It didn't disappear into the handle like I expected it too. Although it did make more sense for it to happen that way because the button I press cuts the power cell inside the handle, so there's nothing to call the "blade" back into the metal.

Feeling extremely accomplished I lowered myself to my balcony and skipped inside. I hesitated before setting the lightsaber down on my workbench. It probably would have been safer to hide it somewhere else. Being able to create something other engineers dream worried me. It's the only reason I kept the lightsaber a secret.

I kept the lightsaber a secret for over a year. Not even Jessica knew about it. I messed around with the energy sword almost all the time. Otherwise I would pop a movie into the DVD player or just turn on the tv for background noise while I worked on the hover board. A very normal routine until one day something on the news caught my attention.

The news woman had a very serious look in her eyes as she stared directly into the camera lens. "Many of us know billionaire Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, has recently left the country to visit Afghanistan. He went there to present Stark Industries newest creation: The Jericho Missile. Unfortunately it seems the trip home was not as easy as the trip there. Tony Stark has been kidnapped. By who and why, we don't know. Karen?"

I tuned out the rest of the news cast. With furrowed eyebrows I mechanically continued to work on the board while thinking over what I'd heard. Four years in this new world meant I've heard quite a lot about Stark. Add on I live in the same state he does while working as a janitor in his building would make it hard press for me to not know who he was.

Surprisingly enough my job as a janitor brought me closer to Ms. Potts. I found out the two of them were close, more friends than just a simple boss and his PA. Going into work the next day definitely confirmed it. The dark circles under her eyes told me of her sleepless nights.

While I didn't know if I could consider Ms. Potts a friend like I did with Jessica, I would say the two of us were on our way there. My worry over social cues stunted the possibility, but I could tell better than anyone Virginia Potts needed someone to talk to.

I finished my duties as quickly as I could, going so far as to use my magic when I normally never did, before stuffing the cleaning supplies back into the supply closet. Taking a deep breath I went to the fourth floor to find Ms. Potts' office. Mentally prepared I knocked three times on her door and only entered when I heard her voice.

"Ms. Potts?"

Bloodshot blue eyes connected with my worried teal. She tried giving me a smile but I could tell it was fake. "Is there something I can help you with Ms. Adams?"

I gave her a gentle smile. "Not me no, but I'd like to see if I can help you."

My response earned a raised eyebrow. "Me?"

"Yes Ms. Potts. I heard over the news of Mr. Stark's…kidnapping, and I wanted to see how you were doing." I couldn't think of a way to sugarcoat what happened, and I hoped I didn't push any boundaries. "I know you two were close."

Her smile trembled. "Thank you, Ms. Adams, that's very kind of you." Ms. Potts sighed. "You are right, we were very close."

"Not were, ma'am. You're both still close. Even if he is all the way in Afghanistan." I smiled and tried to lighten the mood. "I bet you he's dying to build an air conditioner in that heat."

My attempt pulled a laugh from her, but it was hollow. "That's Tony. Always needing to build something. No matter how dangerous…"

"Virginia." I surprised the both of us by using her first name, but I didn't let it show. "I'll bet you anything Mr. Stark is still alive and waiting for the right moment to build something that will allow him to escape. Just you wait Ms. Potts," I grabbed the door handle, "he'll end up doing something that will completely blow our minds. Because he's Tony Stark. Anything is possible when he's involved."

Taking in the hope shining in her eyes I nodded my head and backed out of the room. I had a skip in my step as I made my way down to the basement to nab a few materials I needed for the hover board. Nobody questioned why a janitor would need to go down there, and I used it to my full advantage.

Later that night I thought about what I told Ms. Potts. I held a niggling worry that she would fire me for stepping out of line, but the affect my words had on her reassured me that I wouldn't be in any trouble.

With those worries stashed away I focused on the hover board. I put an alarm on my phone for eleven o'clock. If I didn't I would end up working through the night, and I wouldn't get any sleep. Then I would have to go through the next day without an ounce of sleep. Coffee could only help so much, and I loved to sleep. Almost as much as I loved eating and inventing.

Since I figured out how to make the pure energy for the lightsaber I could apply it to the board to help cancel out gravity's hold. If it had its own power source it could work on its own. The only problem with that meant it would be on all the time and I preferred if it would be able to turn on and off.

I decided to design the board so once somebody steps on it the board would activate. The bottom would have the enough resistors to cancel out the Earth's gravity. While lack of gravity would suspend the board in the air it wouldn't be strong enough to lift somebody into the air. That's the issue I was left to think over when my alarm signaled me to go to bed.

Closing the journal filled with my various ideas from building the lightsaber and hover board I stuffed it into my nightstand with the lightsaber. Not exactly a hiding place, but better than being out in the open.

The next day I had Engineering in the morning then work right after. Since it was the end of the year the professor wanted the class to think of a project to build at home and turn in. If whatever you build works and it earns a C plus or higher you pass the class.

While cleaning the floors of Stark Industries I thought about what I could do for my project. This would be a good opportunity to reveal my lightsaber, or I could finish the hover board. I also considered making what this world called robots. The idea appealed to me because then I had another project I could work on.

I now understood why Tony Stark loves to build things so much.

When I started putting away my equipment I heard my name being called. "Ms. Adams?"

My eyebrows rose at the sight of Virginia Potts quickly striding towards me from down the hall. "Yes ma'am?"

She smiled at me. "Seeing as you're off duty I believe it would be acceptable for you to call me Pepper."

"Pepper?"

Ms. Potts (Pepper) nodded. "Yes. I was thinking about what you said yesterday and wanted to let you know that it really helped me. I suppose nothing's really changed. Tony never did show up to conferences or do anything he was told to do." I heard the exasperation in her tone and hid a smile. "Obadiah–Mr. Stane–has been a huge help these passed few days. But you've helped me on a more…personal scale, and I wanted to thank you."

I shrugged. "I didn't do much Ms–Pepper. Tony Stark is a genius, so I highly doubt a kidnapping is going to do him in. We just need to believe he'll get out of this alive. I won't lie and tell you he'll escape unscathed because this is will no doubt be traumatizing. So when he comes back you need to make sure you're there for him–as a friend."

Pepper smiled softly in gratitude. "Thank you, Ms. Adams. Yours are the only reassuring words I've been hearing nowadays."

I smiled back. "You're welcome. And if I'm going to call you Pepper when off the clock feel free to call me Kendra."

She nodded her head before turning around to return to her office. I sighed as I watched her disappear. The military has been searching for Tony Stark since the moment news of his kidnapping reached America. I've personally heard many negative speculations. Most regarding Stark Industries and what's going to happen to it. People didn't seem to care very deeply for the billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist as a person. Lucky for him he has friends like Virginia Potts to help him when he came back. And I knew, deep in my gut, he would come back alive.


	9. Chapter 9

The longer Tony Stark remained missing the more hope Ms. Potts lost. She buried herself in her work, and I felt bad for not doing anything to help. His kidnapping happened in May and finals were fast approaching, along with project deadlines. I decided my schooling was much more important than a missing billionaire. I felt bad for Ms. Potts, but I couldn't help it. Work had to be separate from my studies.

As for college I was steadily on my way to earning a bachelors in mechanical engineering. I've been passing each class so far with a B- and over. Thankfully I didn't have to continue core classes after the first two years. French is the only non-required class I decided to take. After learning English I wanted to know more of this worlds languages.

It took me days to complete my French project. We had to write a paper on a topic of our choice. This is my third year of the class so I knew a bit of the language, but my limited knowledge of this world made writing it harder. When I did think of something it took a lot of research, note flipping, and google translate to get it done.

With that out of the way I could focus all of my attention on the engineering project. I had the blueprints for a mini robot all sketched out. It looked like a robotic arm attached to three wheels.

The blueprints to make it were half English and half my native language. I write faster in my language, so when I got too excited I'd change languages halfway through the sentence.

With only a few weeks for me to finish up the project I had to work fast. My job at Stark Industries combined with going to other classes meant I had less time to for the project. To make up for the lost time I only slept two to four hours a night. It was hard, but in the end it paid off.

Twisting the screwdriver one final time I released a nervous breath. I set the tool aside and straightened up in my chair. "Okay," my voice shook with nerves, "voice controls: on. Key word: assemble." Voice activation would allow the robot to respond to what I say, and the key word would turn it on and off.

Staring at the claw I waited for the camera lens. I installed a camera in the middle of the claw, or technically its "palm". A heartbeat later the lens started focusing. The air in my lungs stuttered out through my nose. I didn't allow myself to relax until I knew the robot truly worked.

Nothing else really happened and it made me worried. "Come on. Move something."

The arm gave a slight twitch. I sank back against my chair and watched the claw slowly change angles. When the camera lens spotted me the robot stilled completely. I hesitantly smiled, wondered why I would need to smile at it, then watched the robot go back to looking around the room.

"Alright, let's see what you can do." The robot made a weird high pitched noise when I lifted it up. I looked it over in case there were any damages, but I saw nothing. Brushing it off I set the arm on the ground, wheels first. "Look around."

It emitted another whine sound before slowly moving forward. I kept a close eye on it to make sure all the wheels worked and nothing came loose.

The longer the robot moved around the room the more elated I felt. Everything worked perfectly and it didn't run into any furniture. With three days until the project deadline I might not have had the time to get it completely finished.

"Hey, uh, robot come here."

The base of the robot swiveled around, making the claw face in my direction. It's fingers contracted slightly before it rolled towards me. When a foot of space was left between us it stopped.

"Assemble." As soon as I said the key word robot turned off. I could tell because the arm drooped as its muscles relaxed.

Knowing my little robot worked I squealed excitedly. I picked it up and held it in my arms while twirling around the room. Not only was I happy the robot worked, but I finally finished the project. I could get a full nights sleep for the first time in weeks, and after setting the robot onto my workable I went straight to bed.

I wouldn't find out what grade I would earn until possibly July. My professor was impressed with the robot enough to ask me if he could keep it to show future classes. In the end I declined. The thought of getting rid of the little bot made my heart hurt. He's the second thing I've ever made without magic. It made me feel very attached to it.

Finals ended quickly. It allowed me to stop worrying about school work and focus on work at Stark Industries. I met with Ms. Potts to change my schedule. She gave me full hours Monday through Friday. During our meeting I noticed how tired she looked.

"Are you alright, Pepper?"

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine."

I stared at her sadly. It was obvious she didn't feel fine, but since we weren't very close I let the conversation end. We shook hands at the end of the meeting and went our separate ways.

Life continued monotonously after that. Jessica was the only friend I talked to outside of college, and she went home to London for her summer breaks. That left me alone in California. Occasionally I visited Sandra in her bar. She welcomed me warmly every time.

Things got interesting when August came around. I was at work doing my normal cleaning routine when the air shifted. Looking away from the floor I saw everybody seemed energized and we're gathering around the many tv's in the room. I leaned against my mop and watched the tv along with everybody else.

Right there on the screen sat Tony Stark. The very man that went missing in Afghanistan three months earlier. He looked a little worse for wear, but overall I thought he looked alright. Physically at least. Who knew what kind of nightmares his (less than stellar) stay in the desert would induce.

I laughed quietly when Stark made all the reporters sit so they were on his level. Everybody went silent as they listened to him talk about what his weapons had done, and when one reporter asked what happens, Stark stood up. He told everybody how he realized he has more to offer that's weapons.

The last thing anyone expected was for him to shut down the weapons manufacture division.

Shouting could be heard from both the tv and the people around me. Nobody could understand why Stark would shut down the very thing that made Stark Industries. Weapons were the man's legacy.

I noticed something a lot of people seemed to overlook. Stark was obviously very affected by what happened. He saw what his weapons were being used for. Realized his weapons didn't help people, they hurt people. Innocent lives were ended by weapons he created.

Nobody knew what would happen to the company. No doubt a lot of investors would be pulling out of Stark Industries. People worried over what would happen to their jobs in the company.

I ran into the older janitor, Lenny, before leaving the building. He shook his head when I brought up everyone's worries. "Stark is a genius and a billionaire. He won't run out of money before coming up with new technology for the company to sell."

Lenny's words reassured me, and I went home feeling at ease. Once home I quickly pulled out my phone and texted Jess about Stark's return. She replied saying she saw the press conference and couldn't believe Stark would cut weapons manufacturing. We talked a little longer before I hung up to spend some time making my hover board.

I thought Stark's return would be the most excitement I'd see for a while. Instead I ended up meeting someone quite peculiar on one of my nights out.

While working on my hover board I hit a bit of a road block. I decided the best thing to do was take a break, but instead of watching tv I went to my balcony and jumped towards the sky.

Flying around always relaxed me. At this height it also made watching the sunset a lot easier. Sometimes I would cross my legs and hover in the air to admire all the colors in the sky, and the rest of the time I would free fall.

Eventually the sun set, revealing the hundreds of stars you couldn't see when walking on the city streets. I stared at the stars sadly. Thousands of stars covered the sky back home, but not here. Even the constellations were different. I wondered if I would ever get the chance to return to my home, and if that happened: would I want to go?

My musings were cut short when something loud flew past me. It startled me into losing concentration on my magic. I dropped several feet before righting myself. I swiveled my head around to try and catch a glimpse of the culprit. I figured it would've been one of those plane things this world has.

The plane idea was tossed aside when I couldn't see or hear anything else. Huffing incredulously I slowly turned my body around to survey the sky.

Light caught the corner of my eye. I turned my head so fast my neck cracked. The pain made me wince, but I ignored it in favor of watching…something…fly over the city.

Whatever it was rose steadily in the air before shooting straight up. Highly intrigued I went after the object. The lights on the object dimmed when it passed through some clouds. I did my best not to lose it, but the lights flickered out of existence.

I looked around closely, wondering how the object could have just disappeared. A few moments later I realized it didn't disappear at all. It fell from above the very clouds it disappeared in. I stared at it in confusion and wondered where the lights went and why it wasn't flying back up.

My attention moved from the object to the city below it. I looked between the two and stated growing worried. It wasn't slowing down, and at the rate it was falling someone on the ground would get extremely hurt.

Taking a deep breath I angled my body and shot down. The closer I got the more definite its shape became. At first I didn't realize what it was because it was spinning rapidly. The flailing arms and legs told me this object was human shaped.

Reaching out my arms I urged my body to fly faster. When I got closer to the object I made sure to keep enough distance so none of its limbs accidentally hit me. I thought I heard something say ice, but I couldn't make it out over the wind.

I tried thinking of a way to make the thing stop spinning when something on its back suddenly popped up. That accompanied by the sudden return of its lights made me back off a little.

Even though it's lights were back on it still hurdled towards the ground at frightening speeds. I grabbed onto its ankle in an attempt to either slow it down or pull it back entirely. That idea was shot out the window when the lights on the bottom of its feet flared out. Not only was it a light, but some sort of energy my magic recognized. The same as what's used in my lightsaber.

With the energy right next to my arm it burnt off the sleeve of my shirt. I didn't have time to worry about that or the following pain on my arm when the metal human rocketed forward. It's other leg moved next to the one I was holding onto for dear life. I had never flown this fast before. The combination of wind and possible death made me close my eyes.

My eyes may have been closed, but I still felt how close I came to hitting the ground. Cars honked at the two of us and I uttered a high pitched whine that couldn't be heard over the rushing wind.

Immediately the suit of metal flew up and away from the streets. I cracked open my eyes and squinted against the wind. We were flying high above the city now, safe from hitting the ground and becoming that breakfast food called pancakes.

My relief over being alone was cut short when I heard something resembling a "what?" come from somewhere in front of me. Looking forward I saw the head of the suit bent chin to chest with its rectangular eyes boring into mine.

Yelping in absolute surprise my hand released the ankle of the suit. Since it was much faster then me it shot forward while I let inertia carry me forward a little more. With all the excitement draining away I finally noticed the third degree burns covering my right forearm.

I stared at my arm in complete shock while staying completely still. I brought my left hand over to shakily prod at the burn. Pain immediately flared all over my arm and I cried out. Unlike before I now felt the constant pain of the burn. When learning how to control fire magic I burned myself plenty of times, but never in this magnitude.

Noise somewhere in front of me grew louder and louder. Looking up through eyes filled with tears of pain I saw blurry lights headed right for me. My breathing stuttered and I gasped for air. The thing was coming back for me. Fight or flight instincts were screaming at me. I wanted to flee so badly, but I knew I could never match the flying speed of that suit.

I cradled my right arm to my chest then used my left hand to create a hooded cloak. The glowing eyes of the suit disturbed me, and I didn't want it seeing my face. The hood would cast a shadow over my face.

Secure in the knowledge my face would remain hidden I raised my shaking hand towards the incoming suit. The rest of my body was tense in preparation to use the elements should this thing prove dangerous.

I may have tried saving it before, but at the time I hadn't thought of whether or not it would prove to be a danger to myself.

When it reached a certain distance the suit held up its hands. I thought it was going to shoot something at me, but the motion caused the suit to slow down to a stop. We stared at one another in silence. Only broken when the suit suddenly began talking.

"How are you flying? JARVIS, scan."

"Right away, sir."

My eyebrows immediately flew up my forehead. The first voice had been somewhat familiar while the second had an accent similar to Jessica's.

"Sir, it appears she is levitating all on her own."

"Not possible, try again."

I cleared my throat cautiously. "What are you?"

The suit got snarky. "I could ask you the same thing. Along with: how are you flying without anything holding you up?"

My response got interrupted by the second voice with the same accent as Jessica. "My scans show the air around her body behaving abnormally."

"Abnormal how? I need answer JARVIS."

"Look," I interrupted shakily, "I should probably get going now–I have work tomorrow–really sorry for, something, but I've gotta–yeah." Wincing at the tragedy that was that sentence I started flying backwards.

"No, no, no!" Something grabbed onto my ankle and pulled me back. I turned around to see the suit had grabbed onto me and now struggled to stay upright with the loss of balance one less limb provided. "Not done. Tell me how you're flying."

I struggled uselessly in the suits grip. "Why does it matter? You have your own way of flying."

"Yes, but my way is explainable."

"So is mine!"

"Then start explaining."

Growling irritably I focused on the particles surrounding the hand around my ankle. I made them push against its fingers so they would open up enough to let me wiggle away.

"What the–hey!"

Now I shoved against it with all the particles at the front of the suits body. He moved backwards a few feet while I shot off towards the city. I heard a few choice words somewhere behind me, but I ignored them. I only felt safe when I flew into my apartment, making sure to lock the balcony doors behind me.


	10. Chapter 10

Healing the third degree burn on my forearm with magic took a lot of concentration. The biggest roadblock ended up being me having to ignore the horrible pain that pulsed through my arm every time my heart beat. I needed to fall into a certain relaxed state of mind so I could feel the magic coursing through my body. The pain made it hard to concentrate.

After laying on my bed for half an hour I finally reached my meditative state. It felt warm as it flowed through my body; as if all my veins rose in temperature. I followed the flow to where some of the veins were damaged by the metal man's pure energy. Reconstructing the veins took careful concentration. If I messed anything up it could hurt me in the future.

I came out of my trance when my magic flowed through my arm freely. With the burn it moved sporadically across the burned area, but now it had no obstacles in its way. Opening my eyes tiredly I looked down at my arm to see the pale, uncharred skin. I fell into a peaceful sleep within a minute afterwards.

Since college was already in session I was too distracted to think about the metal man. Working in a classroom environment distracted me from thinking about the metal man I ran (technically flew) into the night before. Healing my burned arm saved me from any unanswerable questions Jessica surely would've asked. Since it was my arm I could see white marks left over by the burns, but other people wouldn't see them.

Sitting in my apartment I would mull over the encounter while working on my hover board. I didn't know where it came from or where it went. Just in case I turned on the news to see if anyone saw anything, but the metal man was never mentioned.

I felt pretty certain someone was inside the suit, but the fact there were two voices threw me for a loop. The man who demanded an explanation on how I could fly seemed like the more probable option. I didn't know the man's identity, and the British voice was the one that confused me. If the American was in the suit where was the British guy?Jarvis was what the metal man called him. I wondered if Jarvis controlled the suit, but then why would someone be inside of it? Thinking too hard on it gave me headaches. To avoid the pain in the future I decided the American was in the metal suit and he had his friend Jarvis on speaker phone.

With my mind on the matter settled I could put all of my focus on finishing my hover board. Sometimes my mind would wander and I would ponder about the man in the suit. My curiosity wouldn't be sated until I knew the man's identity. Unfortunately I had no leads to even attempt to discover who he was, so I left it as speculation.

I could have worried about the man telling someone about me. Even on the internet this world has I couldn't find anyone who wields magic like me, so who knows how people would react to my abilities. Thankfully I put on the cloak to hide my face. My identity would at least be secret. Even then I had yet to see anything on the news about an encounter with me.

Jessica didn't know about my magic. We talked occasionally, but we aren't as close now as we were our freshman year. Now a days the only person I felt close to was Virginia Potts. Weird considering she's my boss. Now that Tony Stark was back Pepper seemed a lot happier.

I finally– _finally_ –finished my hover board one Sunday evening. I stood on it with a wide grin on my face. There were indents on the top side in the shape of feet that I would stand on. The board was weight sensitive, so when I got on it rose six inches off the floor. Looking down I could see the reflection of white light that emitted from the bottom of the board. It ran on the same energy as the light saber.

A red button beside the inside of my right foot turned on a second engine. Clear plastic tubes came from the tip of one end and traveled down the sides of the board. When I pressed the red button white energy shot through the tubes. It only extended an inch from the ends of the tubes. Even with that minimal power the board jerked forward, almost making me fall off.

To get used to the feel of flying a hover board I did several laps through the living room and kitchen. Every time I felt comfortable on the board I would press one of two buttons on the outside of my right foot. One increased the energy power, making me go faster. The other would slow it down, but right then I felt comfortable cruising through the apartment.

A blue and green button beside my left foot controlled the energy at the bottom of the board. Pressing the blue increases the power and makes the board rise higher, the green decreases power so the board goes down.

Holding down the blue button sent me above the couch. I flew all over the room without having to worry about obstacles.

The thought of flying way high in the sky appealed to me greatly. Up there I won't have a single obstacle.

Slowing down the board I drifted into my bedroom. I stopped it in front of the sliding glass door so I could open it. Once open I got onto the balcony where I rose higher into the air and increased my speed.

Flying to me was synonymous to freedom. Adding the hover board didn't change that. There was one almost fall, but I stabled myself and kept cruising through the sky. It felt different from flying without any help. Just using my magic felt a lot better, but it was nice to know I could create something like this with my bare hands and the knowledge I've learned.

Everything would be fine until I heard an odd sound coming from behind me. Being so high up I thought it might have been a plane. Instead when I turned around I saw a small object hurtling towards me at an amazing speed. I yelled while dodging to the side.

The board beneath my feet flew out from underneath me. Without my weight the energy turned off and it began plummeting to the ocean below. I followed immediately after it with a startled scream. My magic flared out, manipulating the air around me and halting my fall.

Breathing a sigh of relief I looked over to see the object coming back towards me. Righting myself I stared at the object and waited until the right moment. As it got closer I realized I knew what the object was.

The metal man.

Like our last encounter I summoned a purple cloak to cover my face. The heat made me decide against black.

I got ready to move out of the metal man's way when he suddenly started slowing down. He tilted into an upright position and drifted forward until he came to a stop. I froze in place while he slowly moved his limbs around to make sure he wouldn't move too far in one direction.

"I managed to think I dreamed you up."

My eyebrows rose at the voice. It was a lot deeper than I remembered. Maybe it was a different man? "Your suit is different," I noted absently.

"No, seriously, how are you flying right now? Boot thrusters? JARVIS scan."

Either a different man who knew Jarvis or the same guy who managed to change his voice. "My scanners detect no source of technology on her person."

"Wrong. Scan again."

I held up my hands. "I'm sorry, but my our British friend is right. I'm…"I bit my lip uncertainly before deciding it wouldn't matter if I told him, "…flying on my own. I had a hover board earlier, but it's probably in the ocean now." A pang of loss made my heart ache. It may have just been an object, but I put a lot of time an effort into it.

"A hover board?" The guy was spluttering in his disbelief. "How–those don't even exist! And you can't be flying on your own. It's not possible."

I scoffed. "I'll have you know I built that hover board myself, and now because of you its sunk to the bottom of the ocean." Irritated I drifted closer to him, leaning my body forward slightly so our faces would be closer together. At least they would've been if he hadn't moved backwards. "And why can't I fly by myself? I'm obviously flying and there's nothing but my own skills keeping me from falling."

The metal man remained still. His gold mask had glowing eyes that I forced myself not to look away from.

"You _made_ a hover board?"

I rose an eyebrow. "You made a suit to fly around in, and you're impressed by a hover board?"

He pointed a red metal finger at me. "Touché."

Now that I was really looking at him I noticed how imperfect the metal looked. Scratches and dents, and small holes maybe a centimeter in diameter. "What happened to you?"

He waved his hand. "Really not important right now. Tell me how you're flying without any devices keeping you up."

"I'm not so sure that's important right now. Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, and it's definitely important."

There was no reason for me to feel so worried. The man couldn't see my face, so if I told him about magic he wouldn't be able to connect it with me. He wouldn't be able to find out my identity later on. How would he be able to find me in this city anyway? "Magic, of course."

A moment paused before the man snorted. "You're trying to tell me you're the real Gandalf? Not buying it."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't know who Gandalf is, but if me flying is still somehow not enough to convince you," holding out my hand, palm up, I made the particles above my hand vibrate faster until a flam flickered into existence. For extra flare I made it larger and shaped the flames into a horse. I directed it to gallop around the metal man, who spun in a circle to never take his eyes away from the fire.

"JARVIS scan."

A moment later, "There are no abnormalities regarding the fire, sir. Nothing is here to keep it going yet it hasn't gone out."

Smiling behind the safety of the cloaks hood I twitched my fingers and the fire turned to water. The man dropped a few feet with a startled yelp. "Oh!" The horse disappeared. "I'm sorry, should I have warned you?"

I heard the man muttering to himself. "Impossible. Nothing can change a chemical make-up in the blink of an eye."

"I'll have to explain it all another day." With the man occupying himself I turned and started flying in the direction of my apartment.

A whine from behind me made me look back just isn't time to see the man grab onto my ankle. "No way are you going anywhere now. You can't just show somebody something like that and leave them hanging!"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I have to get to work." I did feel a little apologetic, but I had the night shift that night. I couldn't call Ms. Potts and say a man in a metal suit won't let me go because he wants to know more about magic. "Another time?"

"But–you–magic?–this is–"

"Sir." The British voice interrupted him. "This may be for the best. The suit is currently reaching dangerous levels. Much longer without repair and we'll drop to the ocean."

I pulled my leg from the metal man's grip. "I'm willing to meet up with you again if you are."

"Uh, hell yeah we're meeting again. Don't worry about the time or day. Just watch the sky for any sign of me." With that the red and gold suit turned in the opposite direction at a speed I could only wish to reach.


End file.
